


On Higher Tides

by orphan_account



Category: Markiplier (YouTube RPF), Markiplier- Fandom
Genre: Because of Reasons, F/M, Falling In Love, Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, I wrote this at two am on finals week end me, Merman!AU, Merman!Mark, Reader-Insert, maybe slightly OOC?, self indulgent as hell
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-02-14 01:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12996630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: See, there was a reason you didn't go swimming. Despite making the arduous trek out to California for some much needed r and r, you weren't a good swimmer at the best of times. But of course you end up finding a dork of a merman despite this.So now you're at least obligated to help the guy out, yeah? With only the littlest bit of pleading puppy dog eyes thrown in on his part. The only problem being that you've got a plane ticket for a flight out in two weeks. So you've gotta solve some mythological crisis of his on a deadline.Great.





	1. Lost and Found

The best part of the ocean in your opinion was the sound. Not the droning of a crowd on a busy beach but the steady roar of the waves. You swung your legs off the edge of the peer and were content to just take it in for a while.

A worn notebook sat beside you, weighed down by your shoes so the loose paper jammed inside wouldn't fly off in the wind. You didn't have any ideas to write at the moment but you were confident you'd think of something eventually. Probably.

The sun was out in full force and you mentally kicked yourself for not remembering sunscreen. You could already feel the sunburn forming on your shoulders but you were too lazy to go back and get it.

Instead, you peered back down past your feet to the water below. The peer stretched far away from the shore so you couldn't see the sandy bottom of the ocean. You contemplated, not for the first time, saying screw it and jumping in.

But alas, no swimsuit. Probably for the best considering you weren't a strong swimmer to begin with. You had little knowledge of ocean currents and didn't feel like getting a crash course first hand should you jump on in.

If was up to your mom she'd have forcibly sent you off with at least four pairs of floaties. She's become increasingly concerned over the past weeks, especially after you said you'd needed a break from it all.

But she'd needn't have worried. You could already feel the stress peeling off of you in layers. Going back to how things were was going to be rough but you put that out of your mind right now.

You looked back up and peered out at the waters. That stuff could wait.

Something caught your eye when you went to stand.

You squinted and raised your hand in a futile attempt to block out the sun. There was a jagged outcropping that seemed to be part of a cove/cave system that continued out to sea farther out in the water.

It was entirely too far to tell but you could swear there was someone sitting on one of the rocks. You couldn't see clearly but the constant movement that caught your eye seemed to be the person waving their arms around? 

Were they trying to get your attention?

Your stomach bottomed out. Were they stuck there? Could the person swim? 

Peering behind you you saw a few scattered tourists and a family or two. No lifeguards and certainly no boats for a prompt rescue.

Your lips pressed together in a thin line as you pulled out your phone. Calling 911 might not be the best option at the moment but it's probably the best chance of getting that person help.

You had the first one typed in when you glanced back up. The person seemed to realize they had your attention and tried to sit up straighter in their precarious position.

Then promptly slid off the side and into the water.

"Oh shit!" You gasped, fumbling with your phone. The slick screen slipped right out of your hands. You watched, slack-jawed, as your phone bounced off the pier and landed in the sea water with a splash.

"Oh come on!" You shrilly yelled.

You looked back up to see if the person was still in view but there was just the rocks and waves. 

Spinning around you saw that the majority of people on the beach had moved farther down and away from you. By the time you ran to get someone it'd be too late. There's no guarantee they could even help.

With wide eyes you turned back towards the sea. If you squinted really hard you could see splashing in the waves as they struggled along. They had drifted closer to the cove and the jagged rocks of the shore.

As a last ditch effort, you took off at a sprint back down the peer. You kept glancing back to check that he person was still there. Occasionally you could see some splashes but it got harder as you put some distance between you and they slipped from view a few times.

You hit the sand running full pelt towards the cove. Damn running on sand sucked! Your speed suffered as you almost face planted a few times in your hurry.

There was only a small pause as you reached larger rocks instead of sand. It hurt like a bitch with no shoes but you ran as fast as you dared. Clambering up onto larger boulders you looked out to the ocean again.

You could see glimpses of the person more clearly now. He was a man with a shock of black hair from what you could tell. Any further analysis was impossible as he suddenly dipped back into the waves and stayed there.

Your stomach was in knots as you tried to hurry. The cove was formed in such a way that there wasn't an easy access point by just walking. You had to do a bit of climbing to get around to it and there was a ring of scattered rock formations poking out around it. The man disappeared just outside that ring.

You had to be careful as the rocks were slick and you had negative traction with bare feet. Taking big steps and hopping where you dared, you ventured out farther and farther along the rocks.

When you reached the point where the guy went under you were scraped and bruised from your haste. You squinted down at the water and leaned forward.

Looking back and forth, you cursed as you couldn't see jack in the dark water. With a huff, you untangled your jacket from around your waist and went to toss it aside. Hopefully your rescue attempt didn't end in both of you drowning.

When you looked back at the water you had to do a double take.

There he was, a few feet under the surface.

He peered up at you with an excited if not slightly apologetic expression. You dully noted he had warm brown eyes and a wide grin as he went to rub the back of the neck like he was nervous.

Well, he was probably nervous for good reason considering he didn't have any _legs_.

More accurately, he had a tail instead.

You couldn't quite see all of it, but curled underneath him was a striking red tail. The sunlight glittered off the scales like a disco ball as it moved back and forth. The scales also seemed to be clustered around his eyes and formed a half moon of glittery red around them.

This dude was a mermaid. Merman? Mer-something-that-shouldn't-exist!

This guy lured you out here, he clearly did. Oh god, he was going to eat you wasn't he? He'd wait till you fell in like a dumbass and drag you down until you couldn't tell which way was up. Or he could leap up and grab at you and expedite the process.

Slowly, so as not startle him into attacking, you took a step back. You didn't take your eyes off of the merman for a second. That proved to be a mistake.

You registered his eyes going wide with shock before your feet slipped out from under you. The fall was short and pain exploded in you back as you connected with sharp stone edges.

There was a split second of panic before you were in the water. 

The salt stung at your eyes but you couldn't see much in the flurry of movement and the bubbles. Since you fell in mid-scream, water readily filled your lungs and your body involuntarily spasmed in an effort to go up. You felt your foot connect with something and hysterically noted that you just kicked a fucking merman. Hopefully in his face considering he was probably going to eat you shortly.

You tried to fight to the surface to alleviate the pain from your lungs. A strong pair of arms roped their way around your waist and thwarted your efforts. Despite your struggles, you could feel yourself being pulled downwards and toward the cove. The glittering sunlight was so close too!

Oh god, you were so screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> This is actually my first work I've gotten around to posting on here. I had a mighty need for some mythological bullshit and so, here we are. Feel free to comment on what you think because I wrote this at two am last night (this morning?) and I doubt my sleep deprived brain was all the way there.
> 
> Sorry that this chapter is so short, my friends basically strong armed me into posting this after reading it over. There will be updates in the future but I hesitate to actually set out a schedule because, you know, finals week. Hopefully over break I'll make headway into this project if these tests don't kill me! (send help)
> 
> Thanks for reading my nonsense!  
> Have a good one, whoever you are!


	2. Communication Error

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the whole surreal near death experience, you're rightfully panicked and wanting an explanation. Getting one, however, is gonna have a few more steps than you anticipated...

Though the weather was pleasant on the surface, the water was plenty cold. You felt your chest burning like it was on fire in contrast to the chill. At this point you didn't really care which way you went as long as you got _air_.

So caught up in your struggles, you didn't register your head was back above water until you were already hacking up a lung. There was rough gravel under your hands as you struggled and retched on whatever you breathed in.

Air, sweet crisp air, finally was flowing back into your lungs. Everything hurt as you put all of your effort into taking greedy, deep breaths. Your back stung from a combination of bruises, cuts and salty sea water. In what was in reality less than a minute, you felt like you'd had a brush with death, regardless of how surreal the whole thing was.

Relieved, you collapse onto the shore only to groan as your poor back protested that move. You took a moment to take in your surroundings. You seemed to in the cove/cave thing now, as the sky was partially blocked by a rocky ceiling. The shadow cast by the rocks made the temperature dip a bit lower still. 

Your clothes clung uncomfortably to your body and for the first time since this ordeal began you were glad you didn't have shoes on. The gravelly sand beneath you seemed to dig into your legs and while you were glad to take a few moments to be happy you weren't dead, you wouldn't want to sunbathe here.

Speaking of said gravelly sand, you could hear it shifting beside you. 

Master of compartmentalizing, your brain chose to focus on the immediate issue of almost dying and then not actually being dead rather than the one responsible for it. But now that you had a moment to gather your thoughts you became viscerally aware of the movements next to you.

Simply accepting the fact that, no you couldn't just lay here and hope he went away, you turned your head to look. 

Which you regretted considering he was almost right next to you. Screeching at pitch you didn't know you could achieve, you scrambled back and away from the merman in front of you.

He seemed equally startled. You assumed he went to raise his hands in a placating gesture but he was also using his arm to stay upright. So the scene was set with both of you flailing in a panic on the beach not two minutes after you met.

You chest heaved as you hit the rocky wall. As far as escape plans went, there wasn't any that didn't involve either going back into the water or walking past him. A tense moment passed as you continued to observe the merman and he seemed... like he wasn't very good at being a merman.

Now that he was above the water, he didn't seem like he knew what to do with himself. With no legs to balance himself as he sat, he was left to try to do so with a tail. It looked pretty uncomfortable.

With an audible huff, he flopped down with his tail stretched out in front of him and looking thoroughly embarrassed about the whole ordeal. He then turned his attention to you.

His face seemed to droop as he realised you were still actively hyperventilating. He tried for a reassuring smile and you cringed back further into the wall. This guy had jagged teeth like a shark! 

Realising his mistake he slapped a hand over his face and groaned in frustration. You struggled through your panic and slowly stood up. Edging around the outside of the cove seemed to make the merman enter a small scale panic. 

He kept holding up his hands for you to wait, for you to stop. The weird thing was he kept mouthing words at you but not actually speaking them. You, at this point, had frozen in fear at agitating him to this point.

Gripping his hair in frustration he motioned at you one more time to wait before slowly leaning forward. You involuntarily flinched back at the movement and wished you had taken some of those self defense classes. Then again he couldn't reach you from there and you doubted merman were included in the curriculum. 

He stopped and gave you a look you couldn't quite decipher. As far as his arm could reach, he carefully started tracing lines into the coarse sand. Your eyebrows almost hit your hairline as you realised he was writing. 

After he deemed his work acceptable, he carefully edged back into the water. He didn't take his eyes off of you as he swam back out and waited. 

Haltingly, you took a few steps forward. You looked back out across the cove. It would take some doing, but you could monkey your way out and around and make it back to the beach. The merman was clearly not agile enough on land to catch you so if you were quick...

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you glanced down at the beach out of sheer, stupid curiosity. You had made it far enough that your foot was covering part of what he had written.

You craned your neck around to read it better and you cocked an eyebrow at the message.

_Mark_

Was that... his name?

"What kind of a name is Mark for a merman?" you mumbled, poking at the sand with your toes.

The splash you heard surprised you and you looked up to see the merman, or Mark now, you guess, glaring at you. You got the feeling you were missing some kind of point.

He angrily pointed to the name he wrote in the sand and then back to himself. You face betrayed your confusion as he repeated the gesture again.

"I mean, yeah, I get that's your name?" you said slowly, not getting what he was trying to convey. 

He turned to the side and held his hands like he was playing with a game controller. Turning to an unseen audience, he gave a big cheesy smile and a wave before turning back to you. He gave a hopeful nod but you were even more confused.

"What do video games have to do with anything right now?" You put your hands on your hips, growing frustrated with this impromptu game of charades.

Mark facepalmed and went to come back onto the shore.

"Ah! Hey, no! You stay out there!" you yelled, jumping back in alarm.

Surprised at your outburst he held his hands up and backed away once more. He sighed and pointed once again at his writing and shrugged, shoulders drooping. Sulking, he sank down into the water again until only half of his face was visible.

You glanced back down at the sand. "Can you... not talk?" 

Mark didn't rise any but from the furrowed brows and the large amount of angry bubbles you could infer the answer was yes. Great, now your mind was drawing unnecessary comparisons between this and The Little Mermaid as if this wasn’t already weird enough.

The situation still wasn't entirely clear but you assumed if he was going to eat you he wouldn't have bothered with any of this nonsense. You knew there was more to this guy's story but you still didn't fully trust him. The only question was what would you do now.

You looked back out to the waves to see him just looking at you. His lips were pressed into a tight line and he was gripping his arms like he was trying to make himself smaller. He wouldn't make eye contact with you, glaring off into the distance. 

Coming to a decision, you loudly cleared your throat. Mark jumped and looked over at you with wide eyes. He seemed surprised you were still there. 

"Alright," you said, crossing your arms, "you are going to wait here. I'm gonna go grab a change of clothes and some other things and then I'll come back. I'm going to assume you'll still be here by then?"

His mouth open and closed before he ran a hand through his hair. With a hesitant nod, he gave you a small, confused smile. Getting the answer you were looking for, you nodded back and walked with much more confidence over to edge of the cove.

There wasn't any foot holds within easy reach to your disappointment. You'd have to wade out to about knee deep water in order to pull yourself up and climb out. Suddenly apprehensive about your plan you looked back at Mark.

He was still where he was when you went to leave. Floating over there he was watching you leave with a frown. When he noticed you looking he gave you a thumbs up and what amounted to more of a grimace than a smile.

You blew out a breath before hesitantly walking out into the ocean once again. If you didn't acknowledge you were potentially making a huge mistake then it couldn't actually happen.

You hoisted yourself up and were unpleasantly reminded about your sore legs and back. The rest of the climb back was rather uneventful and you could see the peer in the distance once again. With one last glance back at the shiny merman you could see he was still staring after you.

With an awkward little wave, you climbed back down and out of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DOBBY IS A FREE ELF!
> 
> I just took my last final about an hour ago and am currently avoiding doing the rest of my packing to go home. But hey, I'm updating way sooner than I thought I would so there's that at least! Think this one ended up being quite a bit longer than the first so I'm happy with that. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you have a fantastic day, whoever you are!


	3. A Proper Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get some things together for your little plan and actually manage some conversation this time

You didn't think about what you were doing as you walked back down the beach. Nor when you finally collected your shoes and notebook. Only once you were seated in your rental car did you take a moment to think.

At this point you wouldn't be surprised if you woke up in your hotel room and found this was all some weird dream. You'd shake your head and resolve not to eat whatever gave you weird merman nightmares again. But as you sat gripping the steering wheel, you discounted that train of thought almost immediately. After all, the wet clothes still clinging to your back felt real enough. You also couldn't doubt the existence of the multiple cuts and bruises across your lower extremities and back.

You blew out a breath. This was not how you expected to spend your trip. 

You turned the key and went to pull out of the parking lot. But you gave your word to the merman, er, Mark, and you weren't one to go back on your word.

The radio helped fill the weird silence in your car as you blasted down the highway. First stop, hotel room. These clothes and this car seat were really damp now and the sooner you took a shower the better.

You got lucky with a parking spot right in front of the stairs at your hotel. Running upstairs you thought about what other stops you needed to make before heading back to the beach. You got the feeling he'd be there for a long while yet but you didn't want to him make wait longer than necessary.

Fresh shower and a change of clothes later, you ran out of your room still in the middle of yanking your sneakers on. You still had a few more stops to make before heading back. 

The sun was beginning to set before you made it back to the beach. Your backpack filled with your new goodies, you set off at a light jog back down towards the ocean. The crowd was already pretty thin when you visited last and now you could only see one or two people here at all. Which was probably for the best considering both what you were doing and you not being totally sure if you were actually allowed to be in that cove.

Going much slower than the last time, you pulled yourself up and over the rocks. You had shoes this time so you weren't as worried about slipping but knowing your luck you were liable to make it twice in one day.

This time you were able to make the jump to the sand in the cove without getting your feet wet. The air had cooled significantly and the shadows cast by the rocks and the setting sun made it just a little bit creepy. You set down your backpack and looked out towards the water for the flash of red you were expecting. You paused as you saw that there wasn't anything out there but the dark water. Your stomach sank at the sight.

Had he gotten tired of waiting and left? You were gone two hours, max! Sighing, you opened up your bag and dug around in it. You produced a candy bar and sat down on the sand with your snack. Luckily you had bought enough for the two of you. You couldn't really call out for him since he could be miles out in the ocean for all you knew. Plus there was still the remote possibility of the wayward beach-goer hearing you. There was still a while before dark, you could give him that.

Which was a good thought and all, but you felt increasingly silly the longer you sat here. The sun had finally dipped below the horizon and your jacket was long gone at this point, probably should've grabbed that before you left. 

You rubbed your arms and scowled at the water. The dude almost killed you and didn't have the decency to wait a couple hours? You still haven't gotten any sort of explanation about that, by the way.

You huffed and wished you still had your phone with you. The service probably wasn't the best but you could at least occupy yourself some other way than staring at the waves. You didn't even know what time it was or how long you'd been out here at this point. Logically you knew you couldn't really blame him fully for your own clumsiness but you huffed and puffed about it anyways. There wasn't anything else to do, after all.

Finally, you stood with a huff, stuffing candy wrappers back into your bag. You slung the backpack onto your shoulders and stared back out at the water. In a moment of frustration, you picked up a good sized rock. You appreciated its weight in your hand before you reeled your arm back and let it fly.

It hit the water with a satisfying slap and a splash and you grinned despite your annoyance with the whole situation. That is until you say someone poking their head out for the water.

You paled as you saw Mark look back at where the rock landed and then back at you. His expression was practically yelling 'what the hell, man?'.

"Holy shit I didn't hit you did I?" you asked, wishing you had the forethought of bringing a first aid kit with you. That rock was probably big enough to give someone a concussion!

He shook his head and you sighed in relief. Mark still looked a little confused as he approached you. You had dropped your bag back on the ground and sat down, still not quite close enough for him to grab you but closer than you would've dared before. Mark slowly inched forward, aware of the distance and trying not to spook you again.

He was laying on his stomach half in and half out of the water, tail swinging in the air behind him. You were close enough now to notice speckles of scales that were a lighter pink or a burnt orange colour throughout and you idly wondered if they were similar to the scales on a snake.

Mark opened his mouth to say something before he thought better of it. He had a pinched expression as he rubbed at his throat. You had no idea how a merman could become mute but you decided to go straight to the work around rather than ask.

He looked back up at you when he heard the zipper of your bag only to have a notebook practically shoved in his face. You also pulled out a towel to lay in between the two of so the paper didn't end up wet. Mark slowly took it and just stared at the red plastic cover for a minute. His eyes were so wide you'd wondered if he'd ever seen one before.

You paused as you went to hand him a pencil. The thought hadn't crossed your mind before but it was entirely possible he's never used a pencil and paper before. He clearly demonstrated he knew how to write already but the use of a pencil might've thrown him. 

Just as you thought you'd have to rethink this, he leapt forward with surprising speed and snatched the pencil out of your hand. Okay, maybe he could reach you from this distance after all. 

Mark quickly wiped his hands on the towel before opening the notebook. He didn't think about what he wanted to say for a second as he hurriedly wrote on the paper. After finishing he spun the notebook around for you to see.

_'Thank you'_

You looked up to see the man almost moved to tears. He had the biggest, cheesiest smile you'd ever seen on anyone, let alone someone who was this close to crying. Taking a moment to wipe at his eyes, he gave a soundless laugh. He was looking at you again with a heartbreakingly genuine smile and your heart clenched.

Holy shit how long has it been since he's talked to someone? You were a little stunned at the moment so he took the time to keep writing. The first message had been messy and hastily scrawled out but the next one was smaller and neater. He wrote right under the first message as if to make the paper last longer.

Little did he know you'd brought three more you.

_'I'm really sorry about earlier I didn't mean for you to get hurt, honestly. I wasn't thinking in the moment and you almost drowned for it and I feel terrible about it. Are you alright? Please tell me you went to see a doctor or something.'_

You blinked at the paper as he looked you over for injuries. 

"Ah, no I'm fine," you said, feeling a bit awkward. He narrowed his eyes at you. "Okay my back could be better but the rest of it was my own fault."

He grimaced as he went to write again. 

"Hey I'm fine, really!" you said with a carefree wave of your hand. "Nothing that won't be gone in a few days anyways. The worst part of it was me losing my phone to be honest."

He raised his eyebrows at you and you mentally cursed yourself for being an awkward motormouth. 

"I dropped it off of the peer right after I saw you on the rocks but it was an old hunk of junk anyways."

Mark still didn't look convinced, he looked rather guilty actually. He stared down at the notebook in front of him and nervously fiddled with the pencil. You noticed his tail was moving back and forth similar to how people would bounce their legs up and down. 

You sighed. "I'll be honest with you here, I was freaked the hell out and I still kind of am. I almost drowned a few hours ago. But when I said I'd come back I meant it."

He'd winced at what you said and still wouldn't make eye contact. There was a deep frown on his face and he ran a hand through his hair. You came to a decision and inched forward just a little bit. He heard the sand shift beneath you and finally looked at you with a bewildered expression.

"Apologies accepted, fish man," you said. "You get one free do over for that."

You held out hand with a small smile. "My name's (first name), nice to meetcha."

He blinked at you with wide eyes before slowly giving you a toothy grin. Taking your hand in his, you two shook on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again!
> 
> This chapter gave me a bit of trouble considering I don't plan out what I write until I actually start writing and getting characterization right is something I worry about CONSTANTLY.
> 
> Thanks to my friends for reading this over for me again before I posted it, you know who you are!
> 
> On the topic of my spectacular lack of planning skills, I also have no idea how long this is going to be by the end of the day. So it's going to be a surprise for us all!
> 
> Thanks for reading again, your kudos and bookmarks and whatnot really make my day!
> 
> Have a good night everyone!


	4. Catch and Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You make some discoveries about the resident merman, some more distressing than others

You discovered through your unconventional conversations that Mark was pretty talkative. He'd hardly give you enough time to read through one message before he moved onto the next. The merman wrote with such a sense of urgency that he tore the paper more than once.

"Wait," you said slowly, "you were actually a person?"

He vehemently shook his head before writing.

_I'm still a person. I have been this whole time._

You looked over his shoulder at the shiny red tail in with a cocked eyebrow. He waved his hand with a frown, not amused at you being a smartass, and pointed to his temple.

_In my head at least, is what I meant. I can still remember my life from before this. I'm still me._

You looked him a bit closer than you had before. Besides the scales and the teeth you wouldn't think anything was up if you saw him walking down the street. But a person being turned into a mermaid was almost more unbelievable than the actual freakin mermaid.

"Okay so, who are you really? Before trading your legs in for a tail?" You asked, shifting around so the gravel wasn't poking at your legs as much.

Quick as lightning he had his answer held up for you to see.

_Mark Fischbach_

"You gotta be kidding me," you breathed out in wonder.

Mark perked up and looked surprised for a moment before nodding enthusiastically, like you'd finally solved some sort of grand puzzle.

"Fischbach? FISH-bach? Mark fischbach, the fish man," you giggled, not being able to help yourself.

He blinked once, twice before he got your lame joke. Mark slumped with the most put upon looking pout you've ever seen and you just giggled harder. The man looked so disappointed in that pun it was borderline criminal.

"Oh come on! It's right there, in the name," you wheezed.

Letting out a soundless sigh he made a motion for you to get on with it. You could tell he was fighting off a small grin though and counted it as a win in your book. Probably more from your laughing than the joke but you'll take what you can get.

"Sorry, sorry," you apologised, wiping your eyes, "it's definitely a horrible, random coincidence and I'm a terrible person for laughing at that but it was honestly the first thing that popped into my head and I was doomed."

He shook his head with a small smile and went back to writing.

_No, I've had plenty time to think about things and am honestly ashamed I never even thought of that_

You scoffed and he gave a silent chuckle. His words, though, seemed to bring up a sobering topic to the conversation. He must have noticed your change in demeanour as you now had his full attention.

"How-," you started hesitantly. You definitely knew you were gonna regret asking this but you were too curious to let it slide.

"How long have you been out here? Like this?" You asked quietly.

His brows drew together and he fiddled with the pencil. Mark looked down at the paper for another moment or two and you went to apologize for asking before he slowly wrote out a question.

_What's today's date?_

The realisation struck you like a two by four. He wasn't slow to respond because it was a loaded question, he was trying to parse out how much time had passed. You managed to tell him the date but felt borderline nauseous in anticipation for the answer.

Mark raised his eyebrows and carded a hand through his hair. He looked more shocked than sad at the information. You could tell as he stared at the paper that his mind was elsewhere and the silence drew on. 

After a couple minutes he blew out a breath and wrote. His hand only shook a little bit.

_That's at least a year_

"A year," you breathed out in shock. 

You couldn't imagine what'd that would be like. Trading in walking and talking to friends and family to being mute and your only company being the occasional flounder. You had felt a little bad about your joke from earlier but now you felt so horribly insensitive it wasn't even funny.

He looked lost, staring down at the paper like he couldn't even believe the words he'd written. Impulsively, you crawled forward and tried to give him a hug.

It was awkward from how he was positioned. He was laying on his stomach and propped up on his elbows. The result was more of you leaning over him and wrapping your arms around him from the side rather than a proper hug. 

It was too small of a comfort for too large of a loss, one you didn't even fully understand. But you couldn't live with yourself if you didn't try. You weren't the best at comforting people but you could always offer a sympathetic ear and plenty of hugs.

He froze at the contact, tensing under your arms like he was prepared to bolt. Probably a combination of not having much, if any, physical contact for a year and forgetting you were there. After the shock wore off he started to shake.

He clutched at your arm with one hand like a lifeline. You realised after a moment he was crying but couldn't be heard. The two of you stayed like that for a short while until he seemed to collect himself.

Your pants were already waterlogged at this point so you just plopped down next to him. Small waves lapped at your legs and Mark shot you a look that was grateful beyond words. He wiped at his red eyes and went to write again.

_Thanks for that. And everything else today. Sorry about getting you wet. Again._

You shook your head with a smile. It's a small comfort but like you said, you were good at hugs. 

"If you wanna talk about it, I'm not going anywhere," you said quietly. 

He paused, seemingly in thought about where to start. Once the pencil hit the paper he couldn't seem to stop.

That day you learned a lot about Mark Fischbach, the fish man. He told you about his friends and family, with plenty of sheets of paper spent on funny stories and fond memories. Mark practically waxed poetic about his adorable dog Chica and how his fans seemed to love him as much as he did.

Oh and by the way, you also discovered on top of everything else that Mark was a small time celebrity before getting scales. He ran a gaming channel on YouTube and you could see the proud gleam in his eyes as he told about his work. You got the impression he put all of himself into his projects for everyone to see and enjoy.

The sun had long since sank below the horizon as he told you about his adventures on land. You shivered as the temperature dipped and Mark gave you a knowing look. He seemed disappointed of course but he understood that you needed fresh clothes (again) and a good night's sleep. 

"Don't be such a worry wart," you said as you packed up your bag, "I'll bring a jacket next time!"

You turned to see that he looked surprised, his arm still outstretched with the pencil and notebook. Taking it with a smile you shook your head.

"If you think I'm gonna go back to beach combing and being bored out of my skull in my hotel room you are out of your mind," you reassured him.

Slowly, a hopeful smile spread across his face and he nodded at you. It's a date, he seemed to say.

"Same time tomorrow?" 

He gave you a thumbs up and waved you off as you made the climb back out of the cove. You turned to see him staring after you with a wide grin before he gave you a final wave and slipped back beneath the waves.

You made the second drive back to your hotel room and lamented at the damp driver's seat once more. The hotel was dead quiet as you returned and you wasted no time peeling off your wet clothes for the second time that day and heading for another shower for the hell of it.

Now in fluffy pajamas and hearing the siren song call of sleep, you blearily shuffled to your bed. You pulled out your tablet and idly scrolled through your notifications, more out of habit than actual need to check anything. More junk emails, more passive aggressive messages from your parents, more texts from your friends you didn't want to look at.

You were about to toss it onto the other side of the bed and call it a night when your curiosity reared its ugly head again. Mark had given you his channel name after all. You probably heard of him in some form or another beforehand but just never got around to actually checking out any of his videos. 

The more cynical part of your mind reasoned you were going to stumble onto somber videos mourning the loss of a man who isn't actually dead. You shook your head as you opened up the page and clicked through to his videos.

You squinted at the screen in confusion and refreshed the page. The tiredness left immediately as confusion and dread rushed through your system. Mark hadn't cared to elaborate when you asked how exactly this had happened to him and steered the conversation back to other topics with a grimace.

You stared down at the various thumbnails of a familiar, grinning face.

He said he's been gone for at least a year...

And yet there was a new video posted five hours ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you had a great holiday season and an awesome new year's!
> 
> I was pretty excited for this chapter because things are finally starting to pick up! Hashing out my future plans for this is a lot of fun and I'm excited to put them into words.
> 
> Thanks for reading this far, have a good night everyone!


	5. Of Mysteries and Mermen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get a few answers (finally) and make a plan that might work. Probably.

Suddenly too antsy to sleep, you spent most of the night wrapped up in blankets and watching the videos on Mark's channel.

You started by scrolling back to over a year ago, more than that just to be sure. Picking one at random you jammed your headphones in and hit play. 

"Hello everybody my name is Markiplier and welcome to Until Dawn," he started, a grin on his face.

You blinked as he launched into an explanation of the game he was playing. So this is what he sounded like? No wonder someone re-enacted little mermaid on him.

He hadn't even gotten to the gameplay before you moved on to different videos. You didn't have enough patience to watch an entire let's play so you gravitated towards the compilations. You couldn't help but snicker when he freaked out at the jumpscares on screen. The editing and his constant stream of rambling had you giggling at well past two am.

You glanced over at the clock and realised you had an actual objective besides just mindlessly watching YouTube videos all night.

Navigating back to the channel page, you clicked on the latest video. The man on the screen looked pretty much the same as the one from the earlier videos you watched, besides a haircut maybe.

He still sounded the same as he raged against a frustrating game and yelled in fear as he was being chased by an enemy. You were extremely unnerved as he seemed to have mostly the same mannerisms as well.

Investigating further, you found a challenge video to look at instead. He was joined by two other guys, who you assumed to be Ethan and Tyler from what he told you earlier. 

They were making cookies of all things, a competition to see who is the true master of the chocolate chip. You watched through it all and while it was pretty entertaining you couldn't shake the dread that there were two of the same man you were dealing with.

Though you were probably reading too much into it, you did see his friends giving him odd looks occasionally. How long had this been going on? Had they noticed that was anything was wrong to begin with?

The most striking evidence was another live video. The camera was following Mark around as he explained some silly plan he concocted. You could see a golden retriever in the background and identified her as Chica. 

The man reached down to give her a pat when she very quickly scrambled away from his hand and fled the room. He seemed disappointed at the rejection for a moment before shrugging it off and moving on with the video.

On a hunch you went looking for more recent videos that could have Chica in them. In every instance you found the retriever actively avoided 'Mark'.

When you did actually manage to make yourself put the tablet away it was about five am. You tossed and turned for a long while, still unable to get any rest. Finding those videos seemed to bring up more questions than answers, namely what the hell had happened to this man.

\-----

The sun streamed in and perfectly fell onto your face as if mother nature herself sought your destruction. With a groan you rolled over and pulled the comforter over your head. Now it was entirely too hot and hard to breathe.

You blearily sat up and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. The tablet had fallen to the ground in your tossing and turning last night. With a groan you flopped over the edge of the bed and stretched your arm out to grab it.

More messages you chose to ignore, you sighed. This vacation was turning out to be less rejuvenating than you'd hoped. The addition of a merman certainly wasn't helping.

You froze. Looked at the time. Cursed and threw off the covers. You'd left that same merman waiting for three hours already!

Hurriedly throwing on enough clothes to be decent, you slammed the door shut and nearly forgot to lock it. Once you were in your car you wondered if you should make the stops you'd planned since you were already late.

You figured you should at least bring something for being so late as you pulled out of the parking lot.

Later on as you were carefully climbing back into the cove you spotted Mark immediately. He was laying out on the sand, arms behind his head and sunning himself on the beach. It was a good thing people didn't make the effort to come out here considering he was the least inconspicuous mythical creature in the area.

The sand crunched under you feet as you approached him. He didn't move as you tossed your backpack onto the beach. You realised somewhat guiltily that he must've fallen asleep waiting for you.

Reaching down you gently poked at his shoulder. He continued to snooze. With a frown you nudged him with a bit more force, still nothing. This man slept like a rock and you had questions!

Standing back up you carefully poked his side with your shoe. He jolted awake, flailing slightly. After a moment of slight panic he realised who it was and tiredly blinked up at you. You were struck by how cute that was as he made grabby motions at you.

You quickly produced a notebook and pencil for him. He seemed frustrated trying to write in such an awkward position but was too stubborn to actually move. Holding it back up to you grabbed it as you sat down on the sand next to him.

_sorry i fell asleep_

You shook your head, slapping him with the notebook. "You shouldn't be the one apologizing for my being late! Sorry, that _I_ took a few more hours than I anticipated."

He blinked as you showed him the time. The notebook was passed back with a shrug.

_no problem. had a good nap at least._

The conversation stalled into silence as you wondered how to broach the topic. How exactly do you ask someone if they've had their lives stolen after being turned into a merman?

You started as the paper was shoved back into your face.

_Something on your mind?_

He seemed more awake now than earlier, peering up at you. In for a penny in for a pound, you supposed.

"I checked out your channel last night," you blurted out as an answer.

Mark stilled before pushing himself up into a sitting position. From the look on his face he seemed to know what this was about already. He carefully wrote down a message and passed it off to you.

_Cool, what'd you think of the videos?_

You gave him a disbelieving look as he played dumb. He scratched the back of his head as he avoided your eyes. Eventually he shyly motioned for the notebook again.

_Yeah, you figured it out already, didn't you?_

You nodded, expecting him to keep on writing an actual explanation. He glared down at the paper hard enough you worried it would catch fire.

"Who's out there making videos with your face? With your voice? What the hell happened?" You asked curiously.

He turned back to you, the frustration clear on his face. Mark angrily gestured to the notebook and the gears began turning in your head.

"Can... can you not talk about it?" You said slowly. It was piling more bad things onto an already crappy sundae but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

He nodded quickly, thumbs up at your guess. 

"This is entirely too much like the little mermaid in my opinion," you said bewildered.

The look he shot you was long suffering. He sighed and started back down at the paper. With a renewed look of determination he grabbed the pencil. 

When he actually went to put it to the paper though, his hand jittered and the pencil fell from his grip. Both of you went for the pencil before it could roll into the water. You managed to snag it first and his hand grabbed yours.

You shot a surprised look his way, blush creeping up your neck. He seemed to take no notice and gently took the pencil back. Too absorbed in his task to notice your momentary embarrassment, he tried to write once more.

Again, his hand started to shake before he'd even written a single letter. This time he grit his teeth and held onto the pencil. Slowly, jerkily he'd managed to get words onto the paper. The paper would occasionally rip and tear from the force of him pushing it into the notebook.

Mark finished with a sigh and a wince, flexing his hand. He seemed satisfied by his work and finally handed it back to you. The paper was creased and torn from the effort, the actual words written in inelegant, dark scratches. The message was still clear enough though.

_signed something, shouldnt have_

You raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay I was joking about the little mermaid but this on a whole new level," you said.

He rolled his eyes and made a motion for you to get on with it.

"Should I call you Ariel instead or is that a little too on the nose?" You teased, feeling both at ease and awkward with the situation at the same time.

He gave you a flat look and you got a little chuckle more from his reaction than your bad joke. The atmosphere suddenly turned serious again. You shifted around to face him.

"Okay," you started, "I'll start describing what I think happened and you can, uh, nod your head yes or no."

He thought about it for a moment and nodded. Mark didn't seem too pleased with the prospect but you gotta take what you can get.

"Okay so, someone had you sign something..." You started hesitantly.

He grimaced and made a so-so sign with his hands. Close but not exactly what happened.

"You didn't know what it was?"

That got a reserved nod, you were on the right track now.

"Alright," you said, trying to wrap your head around this, "you were tricked into signing something that somehow turned you into, well," you needlessly gestured at his tail.

He gave a soundless sigh and nodded, giving the offending tail a mournful glare.

"So this person then, for some reason, also managed to steal your life somehow?"

For the first time since you'd met him, Mark looked legitimately angry. He crossed his arms over his chest and his jaw clenched. Staring a hole into the beach beside him he gave a tight nod.

You thought for a moment, this vacation already wasn't what you had wanted but...

"So what can we do about it?" You asked calmly.

Mark looked up at you like you'd grown a second head. He gestured for the notebook again and you handed it over.

_What do you mean?_

You shrugged, feeling embarrassed at suggesting such a thing but determined to help regardless. "This dude stole your life, your friends, even your dog! I wanna help you get your life back!"

Mark was already angrily shaking his head before you'd finished, quickly writing out a response.

_There's nothing we CAN do. I don't have legs and this guy is dangerous!_

"Would you rather spend the rest of your life swimming around out here?" You said, crossing you arms. "I'm leaving in two weeks and I can't in good conscience leave you out here alone."

He didn't know what to say to that. Running a hand through his hair he kept going to start writing something only to shake his head and look away. You wondered if he had already accepted that there was nothing he could do about this. He couldn't actually tell anyone about what happened to him but he hadn't asked for much of anything from you yet.

"Maybe I can be your messenger or something," you offered slowly, not having much a plan yourself. "Your friends need to know that that Mark is a fake Mark, a Fark if you will."

He snorted and shook his head, writing again.

_Well, as good of an idea as that is, they probably won't appreciate some random person showing up at their house spouting nonsense. They'll probably think you're a crazy fan or something._

You threw your hands in the air in frustration. "Well we have to do something!" Pouting slightly you suddenly had an idea, shooting up in your excitement and startling the resident merman.

"What if I met up with them at a convention? They still probably wouldn't believe me but at least they'd have some sort of warning. Plus I won't get arrested for trespassing!" You explained quickly.

Mark frowned. He seemed resigned to living with this from the slump of his shoulders and the worried crease in between his brows.

_Still, we have no idea what this guy is capable of, especially when you're going to go call him out. It also doesn't help my_

His hand twitched again and he grimaced, rethinking his words. 

- _situation._

You frowned. "Maybe so, but we'll never know unless we try. That's better than waiting from some unlucky fisherman to snag you in a net," you tried to joke.

However when that got a grimace your eyes widened. "You've gotta be shitting me, has that actually happened?" You asked, horrified.

Mark look haunted as he wrote a response.

_It was ONE time._

You stared at him in abject horror and he shuddered at the memory. "Okay, yeah, if there's one happening soon enough, I'm gonna go find your friends. That is horrifying."

He shook his head but didn't bother arguing with you further. Mark did, however, peer over your shoulder as you pulled out a tablet. You sighed and mourned the loss of your cell phone again as you searched for any available WiFi networks.

Luckily, there was one from a restaurant that you remembered being just down the beach front. Unluckily, however, it had about one bar of service at this distance.

Both of you sat there awkwardly as the page loaded. You sent Mark a half hearted glare after a moment.

"When you get your legs back you totally owe me a new phone," you threatened.

He spluttered at the accusation, nearly going for the notebook to make his defence when the browser finally loaded. You got to work looking to see if there was any conventions in the area soon. 

Mark huffed behind you, giving up on convincing you to let it go. He still watched as you typed and you figured that was par for the course as he probably hadn't seen a tablet or the internet for a long period of time.

Miraculously, you found there was one that was just a week out and about an hour's drive from here. You looked over at Mark to see him staring at the screen, stunned. Sure enough, pulling up his social media, the fake Mark made an announcement of his intentions of going, excited at the prospect of meeting up with fans.

You heard the scratching of a pencil and turned to see a new message being presented to you.

_I really hadn't expected there to be one so soon. It's convenient but you need to promise me you'll be careful when you head over there._

You gave him a small smile. "Not going to try to talk me out of it, Fischbach?"

He shook his head with a playful glare. 

_That's what I've been trying to do this entire time and look how well that worked out._

You laughed at that and he looked extremely put upon by the whole situation. Tucking away the tablet there was a minute or two or silence, just the waves in the background.

"Well," you said leaning back onto the sand, "what do you wanna do in the meantime?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Sorry for the radio silence for so long! College is, well, college and I'm already experiencing the wonders of group work and other such stressors.
> 
> Again thanks to my friends for reading over this chapter for me! This chapter felt a bit weird as a final product, not gonna lie. Also if the formatting is off for this one I'm trying to post it from my phone because I'm too lazy to go find my laptop. (Its pretty slow anyways)
> 
> Regardless, thank you for your patience! Again I can't really guarantee any regular update schedule but I will be making more an effort to keep it going.
> 
> Have a great night everyone!


	6. Je ne veux pas travailler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a plan set in place, all that's left to do is wait. So what's and human and a merman to do in that time? Nothing overly productive that's what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> I'd apologize for the late update but you've already heard that from me before. College and other projects are vying for my attention but I just finished this today and wanted to get it out to you. So if you're still here after all that, thanks so much!
> 
> Honestly this chapter started as something else and an idea I had derailed the entire thing. No idea how we got to this point but here we are regardless!
> 
> Thanks for reading and while I may not update on any kind of schedule I appreciate every kudos and comment you leave! They really make my day!
> 
> Have a good night and enjoy!

Mark had shrugged, looking a little lost. Which made you wonder what he actually did to pass the time. Asking him that made him look even more lost.

_I explored a bit but I didn't want to go too far out or too deep so that got old pretty quick._

You hummed in thought, looking out at the water, missing Mark's slight shudder. The waves lapped calmly at the shore, all of the bigger ones were broken up by the rocks around the cove. There was the ever present roar of the ocean, drowning out any chatter from other beach goers.

"What's it like?" You ask before you could think better of it.

He blinked back at you in confusion and you shook your head. "Just- swimming out there? Do you still need to breathe air like a dolphin or can you breathe underwater? Does the water sting your eyes?"

Your questions stopped as you thought about what you just asked. The embarrassment reared it's ugly head again as you quickly tried to back pedal.

"Er, sorry that's probably not what you wanna talk about. It was just what popped into my head because y'know, merman! Gotta ask! For science!" You rambled voice rising in pitch as you made it worse, hand over your face.

Peeking in between your fingers you were only slightly more mortified to see him grinning at you like a loon. You groaned as he giggled silently, clutching his stomach.

"Wow, I'm so lucky I met a mythical creature who pities me too much to eat me," you grumbled.

Mark shook his head and reached for the notebook with a smile. You huffed and shifted around uncomfortably as he wrote, blush fading from your cheeks.

You went to apologize again but he waved a hand in dismissal before tossing the notebook back at you. 

_It's fine, really. It's been long enough it's... well at least a little less weird._

Handing back the notebook, you watched curiously as he settled back and seemed to think over what exactly he wanted to say. You shook off your embarrassed nerves as he twiddled the pencil around in his fingers.

_Gills were a part of the package deal, which is more convenient than the dolphin thing. Otherwise I'd totally be the one merman who managed to drown himself._

"Talk about irony," you mused, passing the notebook back.

Peering closer now you could see creases for what must've been gills. The lighting was bad enough and they were subtle enough that you'd never catch them unless you knew they were there. You had the urge to get a closer look but decided that'd it be a little too weird to ask, even for you.

_Your guess is as good as mine about breathing up here. Same for the water thing. It doesn't bother me but I can't actually tell if my eyes are any different._

You blinked as he seemed to think over what else there was to cover. There was probably a shortage of reflective things in the water, especially considering he doesn't venture out beyond the shore much. An idea struck you as you snatched up your tablet again, quickly opening the camera.

Mark cocked his head with a slight pout, put out that he seemed to have lost your attention. He was confused as you shot him a satisfied grin and turned the tablet around to face him.

The front facing camera showed his shocked expression on the screen. Slowly he leaned forward to get a better look at himself. His hand come up to touch his face as if he was making sure it was still his. His eyebrows furrowed as he studied himself intently.

Mark finally went to run a hand through his hair and grimaced as he hit a tangle. He scowled as he held up a chunk of it to inspect. Over the months he'd been out there it'd grown pretty long and you imagined it wasn't the best conditions for a healthy hairdo.

He huffed out a frustrated breath and went for the notebook.

_Think I'm pretty over due for a haircut._

"Nah," you said good naturedly, "the long, luscious locks are kind of a requirement for the whole mermaid deal."

Mark narrowed his eyes. _Merman. Besides that I hardly think they'd qualify as luscious._

"But how will you lure unwitting sailors to their doom?" You teased with a grin.

That got the notebook tossed at you, requiring you to make a last minute grab at it before it landed in the water.

"You have terrible aim by the way," you said. Not that you didn't have four more in your bag anyways. Mark crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at you in retaliation.

You chuckled as you finally read out the message that was tossed in the vague direction of your head.

_It's the worst! It's constantly in my face! No one'd fall for the dude with hair stuck in his mouth. There are no hair ties in the ocean!_

You frowned, tapping your fingers on your chin. There was already a mental shopping list you were adding things onto.

"Well I could buy some hair ties or just cut it. I'd have to find the right kind of scissors for it. Though if I were in your position I wouldn't trust me with sharp objects anywhere near my face," you said thoughtfully.

Looking up you found Mark had plastered on the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes he could manage. His hands were clasped together as he practically begged you to fix the hair issue. You let out a laugh as you held out the notebook, Mark excitedly snatching it out of your hands.

_Please for the love of all that is good on this earth just CHOP IT OFF I DONT CARE HOW IT LOOKS._

"So if I give you a bowl cut you'd totally be cool with it?" You asked with a smile.

Mark looked downright offended at the notion. _If you give me a bowl cut I'm gonna throw the rest of your electronics into the ocean._

You crossed your arms with a smug grin. "Bring it on, shark bait! You might have been taller than me on land but my five foot nothing butt can just hold them over your head and you can't do anything about it!" 

He looked at you incredulously. _Did you just call me shark bait???_

"I happen to like Finding Nemo, so sue me!" You said defiantly.

_What is with you and Disney movies?_ He asked with a confused look on his face.

"Used to babysit, the kids had a very limited preference for movies," you sighed, thinking back on the hours upon hours you spent watching the same movies to appease them.

Mark huffed a silent laugh, leaving the conversation at that. There was a small pause that was just the noise of the waves hitting the rocks in the cove.

"Seriously though I've never cut anyone's hair so it wouldn't look pretty by the time I'm done hacking at it," you pointed out, idly digging your fingers into the sand.

He shook his head with a small grin. _And I'm saying it's seriously not that big of a deal. I'd pay you to hack it all off at this point._

Mark seemed to think of something and quickly made a note of it underneath his last message.

_But no bowl cuts or I'm never talking to you again._

You raised your hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright, though it pains me I will resist the siren song of the bowl cut."

Mark nodded, satisfied. Sitting up he tried working out the various tangles with his fingers. He'd hit a snag with a wince and if he could talk you'd be certain there'd be a steady stream of some creative cursing.

After watching him struggle with it for a while you grew bored. It wasn't like he could write and untangle at the same time and now that the topic had been brought up he seemed on the warpath with his own hair. You huffed and stood, making your way over to him.

Mark gave you a questioning glance through the curtain of hair he was wrestling with as you plopped down beside him. You frowned and batted his hands away, setting the notebook on his lap.

"You're bad at this and I'm bored," you said simply before trying to tackle the issue yourself. He was slightly startled at your impulsiveness, turning to give you a look.

"I can't get the tangles out if I can't reach them," you offered lamely. Mark shook his head slightly with a nervous smile and gestured dismissively, good luck he seemed to say.

You didn't let yourself dwell on your life choices and got to work. As expected his hair was pretty rough after months of exposure to salt water. You face twisted into a scowl as you tried to work out the more stubborn tangles. A hairbrush was silently added to the shopping list.

Mark for his part was patient as you worked. He'd glance back towards you occasionally only to be scolded for moving again. Rolling his eyes he grabbed the notebook and pencil again, careful not to move too much and risk yanking out his own hair.

You were distracted from your work as the sound of him wiggling the notebook back and forth caught your attention.

_And you said I was bad at this?_

As revenge you poked him in the ribs and he jumped like you'd electrocuted him. Turning all the way around he gave you the best glare he could muster as you blew raspberries back at him.

"Tackling this rats nest you call hair takes some patience, my friend," you say cheerily, motioning for him to turn back around.

With an exaggerated roll of his eyes he obliged, leaning back on his hands so you didn't have to reach as far.

You worked in silence for a while like that, taking care not to pull too hard on the tangles. Mark was tapping out some sort of beat in the sand and you found yourself humming a little tune. Your ran your fingers through his hair like that, giving it a little floof here and there. All things considered, his hair was still pretty nice. 

But now that you'd worked out all the tangles you frowned. All that work would be wasted as soon as he got into the water again. You hummed in thought before stretching out to grab your bag.

Mark turned to give you a questioning look, wondering why you'd stopped.

"Hang on I just need to see if I have any- Aha!" You cried triumphantly, holding up a humble hair tie.

He blinked before a grateful smile spread across his face and he made grabby motions for the hair tie. You shook your head and repositioned yourself behind him.

"I'm in the mood now to mess with hair so I'm seeing this through," you said excitedly. "Can I do your hair up into something? Like a braid? Or a man-bun?"

Mark let out a helpless, silent laugh and gave you a shrug and a nod. With the go ahead given, you began combing your fingers through his hair again. 

You paused, a smirk creeping up on you. "Think you have enough hair for a fish tail braid?" 

He reached back and smacked at your leg, shooting you a glare.

"I think I'm pretty punny," you said with a grin.

You started near his forehead and combed your fingers through his hair, gathering it all the together towards the top of his head. Twisting and looping the elastic around, you finished your work and sat back to admire it.

Standing and walking around so you could get the view from the front, you tapped your chin in thought. He fidgeted and reached a hand up to grab at the bun. 

"Not yet!" You scolded, his hand freezing inches away from his hair as you ran to get your tablet again.

As you were opening the camera again, he held the notebook up at you.

_You do know this is going back into the water again right?_

"Yes, but I don't want you want you messing it up before you even get to see it!" You argued, finally getting the camera to work and flipped the tablet around.

He grinned at himself and turned his head down so he could see the man bun better. Giving it an experimental poke he huffed a little laugh.

"Bet this is the first time you rocked a man bun, huh?" You asked.

Mark leaned back again and nodded, wondering where you were going with this.

"So this is the best man-bun you've ever had! Thanks to yours truly," you said proudly, hands on your hips.

It was actually really messy, truth be told. You weren't the best with hair to begin with. Little bits were poking out of all sides and you wondered if you could smooth them down with more sea water.

You plodded over to you bag and managed to produce another hair tie. Sitting next to the merman again you held it out to him. He took but gave you a look that told you to explain.

"It's in case the one in your hair falls out," you said, gesturing to the bun. "After all there's no hair ties in the ocean."

Mark gave you a small, grateful smile that gave you a butterfly or two. Yeah, you'd have to analyse that further later. He slipped the elastic onto his wrist and gave you a thumbs up.

You chatted back and forth as the sun dipped lower and lower. Standing, you stretched your arms high above your head. Hearing a splash you looked out to see Mark gently floating away in the water on his back. He must be faster than he looks, you thought.

"Same time tomorrow?" You suggested, shouldering your bag. "I'll bring along some scissors and see if I can manage a mullet."

With a mighty slap, Mark's tail connected with the surface of the water. You shrieked as a little wave soaked your shins. Mark grinned smugly as you glared at him.

"Not cool, shark bait!" You yelled, shaking your fist at him.

He gave you a look as if pleading with you not to make that a thing. 

You gave him a little wave as you crossed to the edge to the cove. He waved back at you, the hair band around his wrist. As he swam back out into the water, he sank into the waves reenacting that one terminator scene. The last thing that slipped below the water was his hand, doing a thumbs up.

You shook your head at his antics and carefully went to climb back out onto the beach.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!
> 
> This is actually my first work I've gotten around to posting on here. I had a mighty need for some mythological bullshit and so, here we are. Feel free to comment on what you think because I wrote this at two am last night (this morning?) and I doubt my sleep deprived brain was all the way there.
> 
> Sorry that this chapter is so short, my friends basically strong armed me into posting this after reading it over. There will be updates in the future but I hesitate to actually set out a schedule because, you know, finals week. Hopefully over break I'll make headway into this project if these tests don't kill me! (send help)
> 
> Thanks for reading my nonsense!  
> Have a good one, whoever you are!


End file.
